Old age learning

It seems as I age that more and more of my internal conversation (that voice that talks to me all day) are about how my body feels, or maybe what's not working the way it should - I can't touch my toes anymore, or, I have to wear a skull cap to bed to keep my bald head warm, because we sleep with the window open, or, my prostate is the size of a peach (it's not but that is one I hear from other men.). You know, those kinds of conversations. It also seems like this is only happening to me.

Of course, intellectually I know that's not true. But when the voice in my head is talking to me, it doesn't talk to me about "others". It just comments on me. Boring! What's boring you ask? Well the types and quantities of aches and pains are endless! And it seems, most of us, or at least I, don't have a high tolerance for pain. I don't mean serious pain! I mean just little pains, like muscles aches or headaches! From the noise being made by the voice-in-my-head you'd think I had one foot in the grave. Mind you I might, but I think I'd at least have some clue.

So over the weekend I went back to work on my HOn3 Rocky Mountain model railroad platform. I was crawling under it, around it, and through it, learning how to cast realistic looking rock cliffs and working on "reverse loop" wiring. And of course each night I found new aches to testify to my contortions.

You probably don't know what I mean by reverse loop wiring but don't worry, I barely know myself. I'm learning how to wire for DCC. That's a kind of radio control technology that allows all kinds of good stuff to happen that wasn't possible before. DCC has a more, or I guess to some guys less, complicated way of controlling polarity, which of course you need to control in order to control the direction of your locomotives - something that seems useful to do.

Anyway, two things are noticeable about working on my train platform. One, there are technology challenges for me with the DCC stuff. Nothing like sending a man to the moon, or anything like that. Nor anything as complicated as computer technology for instance, but I'm noticing none-the-less how daunting it is. It's not something I have ever been exposed to before. But when I first started looking into it, it occurred for me as something I could figure out for myself, with some reading.

So I started to read up on it. Then when I was reading, I fell asleep. So I had to read it three times to get it, than three more times to remember it enough to do the wiring work. When I was in my twenties, I could read it in one sitting, understand it immediately, and remember it for years. Of course leading edge technology when I was in my twenties was a "scientific calculator".

But it's not all bleak. The other thing I noticed is that I still enjoy the challenge and the learning. Learning is still fun. Getting older hasn't seemed to diminish that. So take heart folks. As you slide into those senior years, there are still positives to found!